Pawan Singh emerged as a big challenge for the NDA candidate in Karakat.
Pawan Singh emerged as a big challenge for the NDA candidate in Karakat.
Patna May 17: Bhojpuri Power Star Pawan Singh emerged as a big challenger for NDA on the Karakat Lok Sabha seat. After the election commission validated his nomination, he made his intention clear that he would not withdraw his nomination despite the pressure applied by the BJP leaders.
BJP leaders like Prem Kumar and RK Singh openly asked him to withdraw the candidature or BJP will take action against him. Prem Kumar said that the party would expel Pawan Singh if he would not withdraw the nomination. Pawan Singh is a member of BJP but he is contesting the Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate from Karakat.
Earlier, Pawan Singh’s mother Pratima Singh entered the electoral battle of Karakat Lok Sabha constituency and filed the nomination as an independent candidate on Tuesday.
Pawan Singh’s presence is a worrying factor for the NDA candidate. He is extensively campaigning in Karakat and getting overwhelming responses from all sections, especially youths. His popularity among women is visible on the ground.
Following such a move of Pawan Singh, the Lok Sabha election in Karakat is turning out to be very interesting here. The presence of Pawan Singh may hurt Upendra Kushwaha who is contesting as an NDA candidate on the ticket of his party Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) He is challenging Rajaram Singh Kushwaha (CPI-ML) of the Grand Alliance. The entry of Pawan Singh has made the contest triangular on the Karakat seat.
Upendra Kushwaha and Rajaram Singh come from the Kushwaha community which has a sizable number of voters in this constituency. Pawan Singh belongs to an upper caste and he has a big fan following in the rural areas of Bhojpur, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Kaimur and other areas. Upper caste people are considered core voters of BJP and the entry of Pawan Singh may hurt Upendra Kushwaha.
Karakat Lok Sabha seat has around 3 lakh Yadav voters, around 2 lakh Rajput, Kushwaha are 3.5 lakh, 2 lakh Gupta. Besides them, Bhumihar, Dalit, Mahadalit and Kurmi also have a sizable number of voters in this constituency.
Karakat Lok Sabha seat came into existence in 2008 after delimitation. Earlier, it was known as Vikram Lok Sabha constituency. It has Karakat, Dehri and Nokha assembly constituencies come under the Rohtas district and Nabinagar, Obra and Goh come in the Aurangabad district.
In 2014, Upendra Kushwaha won the election as an NDA candidate on this seat but he lost the election in 2019 after contesting as a grand alliance candidate. The JD-U candidate Mahabali Singh defeated Upendra Kushwaha in 2019.
BJP had earlier given the ticket to Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh to contest from Asansol in West Bengal but he refused. After that, Pawan Singh filed his nomination on May 9, 2024, to contest the election from Karakat.
EOM.